Speech Pathology and Audiology Commons^™

Adverse Childhood Experiences In Mothers And Their Children With Hearing Loss, Elizabeth A. Rosenzweig

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

This study examined the relationship between maternal and child ACEs in children with hearing loss ages 3-12. One hundred twenty-four mother-child dyads completed assessments of mother and child ACEs. Adverse cChildhood eExperiences (ACEs) were measured using the Center for Youth Wellness Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (CYW ACE-Q; Burke Harris & Renschler, 2015).

Both maternal and child participants in this study reported higher levels of ACE exposure than previously reported in studies of the general population. Maternal and child ACEs were significantly correlated. White/Caucasian mothers experienced significantly fewer ACEs than mothers of other races/ethnicities. Children living in adoptive, foster, or guardianship …

Benefit Of Visual Speech Information For Word Comprehension In Post-Stroke Aphasia, Anna Krason, Gabriella Vigliocco, Marja-Liisa Mailend, Harrison Stoll, Rosemary Varley, Laurel J. Buxbaum

Moss-Magee Rehabilitation Papers

Aphasia is a language disorder that often involves speech comprehension impairments affecting communication. In face-to-face settings, speech is accompanied by mouth and facial movements, but little is known about the extent to which they benefit aphasic comprehension. This study investigated the benefit of visual information accompanying speech for word comprehension in people with aphasia (PWA) and the neuroanatomic substrates of any benefit. Thirty-six PWA and 13 neurotypical matched control participants performed a picture-word verification task in which they indicated whether a picture of an animate/inanimate object matched a subsequent word produced by an actress in a video. Stimuli were either …

Telepractice-Based Language Intervention Training For Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Sarah Bryan

Honors Theses

This study closely examined the progression and fidelity of strategy implementation of parents undergoing an ASD language intervention training program. This instructional, interactive program was designed for parents of children with autism, thus catering to the needs of participants involved. This study assessed the use of parent comments and redirects, two kinds of parent strategies, during each parent-child interaction to provide more information about the impact of training sessions. The researchers hypothesized that by the end of training, parent participants would increase their fidelity of strategy implementation, increase their use of comments rather than redirects, and employ more open-ended questions …

The Effects Of Calmer On The Quality Of Life In Adults With Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder, Madilyn Morris

Honors Theses

Level 1 autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a high-functioning neurodevelopmental disorder (Hodges et al., 2020; Hosseini & Molla, 2023). Several features of level 1 ASD negatively impact quality of life (QOL), and auditory sensitivity (specifically hyperacusis) is one of the most prevalent and disabling features (Danesh et al., 2015, 2021; Kuiper et al., 2019; Williams et al., 2021). Hyperacusis significantly impacts QOL in the level 1 ASD population, as current hyperacusis treatment strategies often result in various forms of social isolation (Adams et al., 2021; Danesh et al., 2015; Neave-DiToro et al., 2021).

However, Flare Audio markets a product (“Calmer”) …

Verb Tense Production Differences Across Various Discourse Tasks In People With Fluent And Nonfluent Aphasia, Madeline Ann Zurbrugg

Honors Theses

Background: Fluent and nonfluent aphasia are both seen to exhibit varying degrees of morphosyntactic difficulties, with particular difficulties in verb tense production. There is disagreement regarding why tense is particularly impaired, which type of aphasia is more impaired and why, and whether some tense forms are more impaired than others. There is also evidence that language elicitation tasks affect language production measures because they require different linguistic and cognitive processes. This is likely also true for verb tense production. To date, no studies have examined discourse elicitation task effect on verb tense production in both fluent and nonfluent aphasia. The …

The Existence Of Stuttering-Like Disfluencies In American Sign Language, Katherine King

Honors Theses

For over a century, data have documented fluency disorders and stuttering-like disfluencies (SLDs) in multiple expressive modalities outside of speech, including musical expression, writing, and American Sign Language (ASL). The presence of SLDs in multiple expressive modalities presents the argument that SLDs are not limited to speech. This study specifically surveys fluent ASL signers relative to SLDs, analyzes SLD manifestations, and documents specific examples of stuttering behaviors in ASL.

This study analyzes SLD manifestations in ASL by conducting a survey developed from all known research within the SLD paradigm. Based on all previous research, SLD manifestations are categorized and represented …

The Effect Of Microglial Cell Dysfunction On Multi-Modal Pre-Pulse Inhibition, Michelle Besser

Dissertations, 2020-current

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent deficits in social communication, restricted behaviors, and executive functioning deficits. Mutations in fractalkine signaling, particularly in CX3CR1, in the brain have been linked to ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders. This investigation examined wild-type mice and mice with one or two copies of mutated CX3CR1 and their uni-modal (auditory and somatosensory) and multi-modal (combined) pre-pulse inhibitions (PPI). PPI is an unconditioned response – a decrement in the acoustic startle reflex when the mouse detects a non-startling stimulus presented a few hundred ms before the startling sound. In this study, the …

Impact Of Diabetes Mellitus On Vestibular Function: A Scoping Review, Ellen M. Jones

Dissertations, 2020-current

Diabetes mellitus (DM) encompasses a group of metabolic diseases that result in high blood sugar (i.e., hyperglycemia). By 2030, it is anticipated that 578 million adults worldwide will have DM, with this number growing at a faster rate in developed areas of the world.^[27] If left uncontrolled, DM can cause considerable damage to several areas of the body, including the heart, kidneys, nerves, and ears. When focusing exclusively on the ears, there has been markedly less research on the vestibular system when compared to the auditory system, even though DM is a known risk factor for falling. The purpose …

Magnitude Estimates Of Angular Motion: Perception Of Speed And Spatial Orientation Across Visual And Vestibular Modalities, Erin Hernon

Dissertations, 2020-current

Both the vestibular system and optokinetic system generate conjugate eye movements in response to either movement of the head or movement of the visual surround. Both systems help to maintain gaze stability. While the VOR is most sensitive to input frequencies above .2 Hz, the optokinetic system helps maintain gaze stability at lower frequencies. Previous research on perceptual thresholds across the two sensory modalities shows that there are frequency-dependent differences between vestibular and visual perception. The purpose of this study is to extend previous vestibular psychophysics work by 1) comparing magnitude estimates from vestibular stimulation to visual stimulation across multiple …

Reality Of Counseling In Pediatric Audiology Clinical Practice, Lara Leggio

Dissertations, 2020-current

The overwhelming nature of hearing loss identification often causes families to experience grief and confusion. Children as young as nine months old with severe hearing loss have the option to undergo cochlear implantation (CI) surgery with the hopes of restoring normal hearing. Pediatric audiologists accompany families through the identification of hearing loss and the learning process that coincides with this surgery. Despite knowledge that parents of children with communication disabilities will experience a sense of loss and have moderate to severe cyclic emotional reactions, little is known about how audiologists manage the emotional needs of families, if they feel prepared …

Assessing Word Recognition In Infants With A History Of Chronic Otitis Media, Sarah Wright

Dissertations, 2020-current

Otitis media (OM) is a common ear-related disorder diagnosed in children that can cause a temporary conductive hearing loss. The fluctuating hearing loss may alter auditory processing which may interfere with language development while impacting quality of life for infants and their caregivers (Homøe et al., 2019). In several languages, eleven-month-old infants have shown a preference for familiar words over unfamiliar words using the head-turn preference paradigm. This study examines the effect of chronic OM on the preference for familiar or unfamiliar words in eleven-month-old infants. Fourteen eleven-month-old infants (mean age 344 days) with three or more diagnosed ear infections …

Role Of Emg Monitoring On Cvemp Testing In Preschool Age Children, Brenna Murray

Dissertations, 2020-current

While cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP) testing has largely been studied and practiced on the adult population, less is known about the best practices for performing cVEMPs on a pediatric population, especially in young children under the age of 5 years. Further, very young children (i.e., 2-3 years) often prefer to sit with their caregiver during the testing, yet there is very little data on how much electromyographic (EMG) activity a child generates if in a seated position as opposed to a supine position. The purpose of this study was to assess the role of EMG on cVEMP recordings …

Functional And Location Context Effects On Reading Sentences In Healthy Young Adults: Evidence From Eye Tracking Methods, Elizabeth Baird

Honors Theses

Spreading activation theory proves the way our brains are semantically wired to accept outside information and understand it. Previous studies have demonstrated the effects of spreading activation theory in different settings and activities. These effects are important to understand because they can be used in therapy and assessment for communication disorders. This study explores how the context of sentences affects reading time on noun targets in healthy young adults using an eye tracking method. Specifically, we compared functional and location context types and manipulated the context to be incongruent or congruent to the targets. Our research questions were (1) whether …

Multilingualism And Augmentative Alternative Communication: A Review Of The Literature, Hannah N. Lamarca, Natalie R. Andzik

Honors Capstones

Purpose: Individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who use Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) are often offered English-only AAC systems that do not meet their language needs. Devices that host multiple languages often only offer one at a time.

Method: The authors reviewed the literature by searching relevant databases using a variety of search strings. Following our inclusionary and exclusionary criteria, 15 articles were yielded for analysis.

Results: Authors found that more than half of the included articles were discussion-based papers on AAC delivery, barriers to AAC and multilingualism, and codeswitching using AAC. The included interview studies aimed to …

Suprathreshold Auditory Processes In Listeners With Normal Audiograms But Extended High-Frequency Hearing Loss, Srikanta K. Mishra, Qian-Jie Fu, John J. Galvin Iii, Andrea Galindo

Communication Sciences & Disorders Faculty Publications

Hearing loss in the extended high-frequency (EHF) range (>8 kHz) is widespread among young normal-hearing adults and could have perceptual consequences such as difficulty understanding speech in noise. However, it is unclear how EHF hearing loss might affect basic psychoacoustic processes. The hypothesis that EHF hearing loss is associated with poorer auditory resolution in the standard frequencies was tested. Temporal resolution was characterized by amplitude modulation detection thresholds (AMDTs), and spectral resolution was characterized by frequency change detection thresholds (FCDTs). AMDTs and FCDTs were measured in adults with or without EHF loss but with normal clinical audiograms. AMDTs were …

The Effect Of Exercise Interventions On Cognitive Functions In Individuals With Down Syndrome: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Emma Moreland

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Purpose: Previous research showed that exercise positively impacts cognition, specifically executive functioning. This systematic review aims to determine the impact of exercise on cognitive functions in people with Down Syndrome.

Method: A systematic review of the research literature related to the influence of exercise on cognition for individuals with Down syndrome was carried out. Included studies were evaluated for level of evidence and appraised for strength of study design. Post-intervention change score differences between groups were analyzed using effect sizes (Hedge’s g).

Results: Fifteen intervention studies met inclusionary criteria and were included in the systematic review. Levels of evidence for …

The Effects Of An Intervention Using Pokemon Trading Card Game On The Decoding Abilities Of Children, Derek Emmett

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The present study focuses on illustrating the relationship between word decoding instruction and word decoding abilities within the context of a trading card game. Additionally, an argument for reading motivation and improvement of literacy skills is made. Three participants between the ages of 9 and 13 were recruited for participation in this study. Several decoding strategies such as phonemic awareness and morphological awareness strategies were implemented and trained over the course of several trading card games. Performance in decoding of several lists of compiled nonwords following treatment phases were systematically measured by the researcher. Two of the three participants demonstrated …

A Proof Of Concept For Detection Of Palato-Lingual Contact Without Intraoral Electrodes In A Human Participant, Amitava Biswas

Master's Theses

The author of this thesis conceived and investigated an unexpected electrical signal that may not be noticed during regular electroglottography (EGG) when electrodes are conventionally placed on the anterior surface of the throat. It appears that there is a measurable electrical signal from the EGG equipment when electrodes are placed over the frontal cheek (belly of zygomatic muscle), and the tongue is elevated to contact the hard palate, or the tongue is lowered to break the contact. Therefore, this phenomenon is designated as unconventional electroglottography (UEGG, Dr. Steven Cloud, private communication, July 17, 2022).

Two distinctive patterns of waveforms were …

Parents' Perception Of Speech-Language Pathologists In Secondary Transition, Madelyn Hunt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Speech-Language Pathologists provide services to youth with Down syndrome. The purpose of this study was to (a) determine if parents are aware that speech-language pathologists can provide services to prepare their children for secondary transition; (b) identify the parents’ perceptions of the services provided by speech-language pathologists; and (c) determine if in the parents’ opinion, the speech-language pathologist provided a vital role in preparing their child for transition. Using nonprobability snowball sampling, this cross-sectional mixed-method survey study included 85 parents of youth (ages 14-22) with Down syndrome across the United States. Parents rated their experiences and described their beliefs and …

Speech-Language Pathologists’ Perceptions Of The Severity Of Speech Sound Disorder, Alexis Moser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine speech-language pathologists’ (SLPs’) perceptions regarding the concept of severity of speech sound disorder (SSD).

Methods: An online survey of 40 questions was created using REDCap® and disseminated to currently practicing SLPs across the United States. A total of 296 responses were completed, and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and coding according to grounded theory.

Results: The top five factors SLPs consider when determining SSD severity are types of errors, intelligibility, perceptual judgment, normative data, and percentile rankings. Most SLPs were unfamiliar with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health …